


Jade

by Mantonio



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Dubious quality, Gen, Tags Subject to Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-04-20 06:22:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4776851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mantonio/pseuds/Mantonio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A gem is sent from Homeworld to answer Peridot's distress signal. Takes place after Week of Sardonyx.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reassignment

**Author's Note:**

> _Everyone else seemed to be making and drawing gemsonas, but since I don't have any artistic skills whatsoever I thought I'd write something instead. Get the mental image across, and whatnot. Also I have some ideas about Homeworld I'd like to explore, so, there's that too._
> 
> _This will be posted in a series of short chapters, and personally I think the quality of all this will be a little dubious, but I hope you enjoy it anyway._

The sun was shining on Central City of Homeworld, and the clock struck thirteen as Jade’s resting period came to an end.

‘Rest’ wasn’t quite the right term - gems didn’t truly need sleep, after all - but occasional relaxation was the key to consistently efficient work, so every peacekeeper on Homeworld had regular bouts of time to herself. Jade coveted these times, usually spending them by cleaning her equipment; reading romantic novelettes of dubious quality; and trying to coax the life back into a withered houseplant she’s bought on impulse from an off-world trader half a century ago.

Speaking of equipment, she stopped by the door to give her uniform one last inspection in the mirror. Her photoform was the same as always: Shorter than average but not quite stout, with angled features and light-green skin, and black hair (or what would be hair, for someone organic) tied in a severe ponytail. Her uniform was of the ever-popular jumpsuit variety and dark green in tone, accentuated with boots and a high collared greatcoat of greyish purple. The coat was made of actual fabric rather than being part of her form and thus was useless in a real fight, but it was traditional for peacekeepers to wear one, so on it went. Finally there was her shield-shaped gem, seated in the centre of her chest and polished to a shine.

Everything was perfect. Time to go back to work.

Jade found the walk back to her workplace pleasant and without incident. The streets in this part of the city were clean and orderly, and the entrance to her hab block gave a stellar view of the three Diamond Towers dominating the skyline. Other gems gave her a wide berth as she passed, as was respectable. She went down the street and took a series of short warp trips, and in under ten minutes she materialised at Justice Square, in front of the precinct.

The precinct building (that is, the parts of it that were above ground) was large and cuboid in shape, and built out of white, shining stone. Three of its four sides were dominated by enormous diamond symbols made of glass, each a different colour, while the fourth side was windowless and given over to a landing pad for pods and small craft.

The secretary at the front desk was another Jade. This one was younger and slightly smaller in appearance, with her hair in a bob and a look of extreme fatigue on her face.

“Chief wants to see you.” Said the secretary, not looking up from the computer screens on her desk.

Jade gulped.

_=====_

The chief was the eldest Jade in the building, and it showed. Her uniform was darker in appearance, inlaid in gold and with crystal shoulder pads. Her physique was taller and more impressive, as befitting a leader, and her short-cropped hair was streaked with silver. And her voice could change from one of calming reassurance to one of terrifying fury at a moment’s notice.

As Jade walked into the chief’s office she looked up from her paperwork and clasped her hands. “Aah, there you are.” She said, this time sounding almost bored. “Take a seat.”

Jade did so, and waited as the chief returned to her work. And waited. And waited some more.

After more than enough time had passed for the silence to become uncomfortable, the chief looked up and said “Recite The Rules, please.”

The words jumped to the front of Jade’s mind as she straightened herself into a salute. “Rule One: Enforce the law. Rule Two: Protect gem kind, provided this does not violate the first rule. Rule Three: Uphold the law, provided this does not violate the other two rules.”

The chief nodded, and looked back to her paperwork. The uncomfortable silence returned.

“Your record is commendable.” She eventually said.

Jade didn’t know where this conversation was going, so she opted to answer with “Thank you, ma'am.” In her experience it was usually the best option.

“A fine arrest rate. Always meet your quota. Personal financing and use of force kept well within acceptable levels.”

“Thank you, ma'am.”

“Hmm.” The chief looked back up at her again now, and there was a glint of something in her eyes. Jade didn’t know what it meant. Hopefully it was something good, and not the chief wanting to snap Jade’s gem in half for some failing. She’d seen her do that to others before.

“How do you feel about reassignment?” The chief asked.

Jade hesisted. Whatever she was expecting, this wasn’t it. Deciding to stick to her guns, she said “Ma'am?”

The papers were slid across the desk. “A distress signal from an abandoned planet was picked up a few weeks ago. Yellow Diamond herself wants it attended to, for some reason.”

The chief must have noticed Jade’s growing excitement at the name, because she smirked as she asked “Feel you can do this, rookie?”

“Can I!” Jade burst out. “I mean, y-yes! Ma'am! Of course!“

A chance to go off-world! To earn honour for her precinct and perhaps even the respect of one of the triumvirate! It sounded like a dream assignment. She couldn’t wait.

“Good.” said the chief, as she withdrew the papers and the smirk. “You’ll have a ship waiting for you in an hour, and I expect daily reports. Dismissed.”


	2. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Chapter two somehow became twice as long as chapter one, so I hope this means I'm actually going somewhere with this._

Jade packed quickly and with much excitement, returning to her hab block at a run and throwing items into her gem’s storage space. These included a spare coat; a series of recording devices and notebooks both manual and digital; and a few trashy novels to read if she got bored. She was also bringing a pair of gem destabilisers, but for obvious reasons she would have to keep those in her coat pocket.

“A special mission!” She repeated to herself giddily. “To off-world! From Yellow Diamond herself!”

Her head spun with possibilities. This could be her big chance. An opportunity to prove her worth as a peacekeeper, and wallow in all the rewards that followed. She could become head of her batch, or even be assigned her own precinct!

That last one in particular sounded particularly nice, and chased away any doubts she may have had.

“Maybe I’ll even get a warship! With my own crew!”

_=====_

There was no crew waiting for her, and there certainly wasn’t a hand-shaped warship.

“You can’t be serious! I have to use one of those?!” Jade protested.

The ship she was referring to was a positively ancient model - a tiny marble saucer with four clunky legs, just enough space inside its bubble cockpit for a single pilot, and little else. It was warp capable, but it had no shielding. There was a small storage compartment in the back, but it didn’t have a single laser cannon to speak of. And the chance of it containing an escape pod was a definite zero.

The engineer being complained at (yet another Jade, this one with reflective strips on her coat and her hair in curls) shrugged. “Not my problem.” She said. “I have a requisition order for one ship. There is only one of you. So this is what you’re getting: One ship for one gem.”

“But I’m on a very important mission!” Jade insisted. “For someone who is also very important! I may even need to rescue someone at some point, and where are they going to sit?”

“Destabilise them and shove them into storage?” The engineer suggested, unimpressed. “Again, not my problem. And I have a prison ship landing here in ten minutes, so I need it off the pad. Take it or leave it, rookie.”

Jade considered it to be rather unfair, but it seemed that she didn’t have time to argue. Grumbling “Fine!” she climbed into the ship, snapped “And don’t call me ‘rookie’!” as the canopy closed, and she was up and away.

With only a little turbulence she climbed higher and higher, until the ship breached the atmosphere and Homeworld glittered beneath her. Now safely in orbit, she just had to punch the coordinates into the computer and keep herself occupied while the ship did all the work.

For the first couple of hours this meant just looking out of the window in wonder - Jade had not spent any time off-world before, apart from the mandatory zero-gravity training - but eventually duty called, and she began to read the briefing documents she had found waiting for her under the seat.

_=====_

“Mission Log: Day Zero.” Jade said, looking into the vid-corder she’d set up on the dashboard. “I have left Homeworld, and am on route. Will finish reading documents during transit, and should be arriving shortly. Also, who names a planet after a type of dirt, anyway?”

But it seemed that Jade had underestimated just how long the trip would be, or just how slow her ship was. She read the mission briefing again a dozen times, but that had only lasted her for eight hours or so.

“Mission Log: Day One. Still en route, nothing new to report.”

A few days in even space had begun to lose its wonder, and Jade turned to the books she’d brought with her.

“Day Three, I guess? Still going. Uh… I finished reading ‘Rocks of Lust’? It was quite good, but everyone is shattered at the end. Which was sad, but I guess that’s what you get for falling in love outside your own caste, right?”

Jade cursed that she was a quick reader, as it was only another couple of days before she’d consumed all of these too, and doubts began to creep in.

“Day Five. I think it’s five. Still here. In space. If you’ve bugged this ship and are hearing this, chief, I’m sorry for whatever I did to deserve this.”

Finally, mercifully, her journey came to an end. The ship made one last jump, and in another few hours she was within the Crystal system and hovering above her destination. Jade still couldn’t see why the planet was named after dirt, because ‘Earth’ was truly beautiful. A surprising amount of it was covered in liquid water, shining a brilliant blue. White clouds danced over continents of mostly green, with ice at both of its poles.

As she pressed a button on the side of her vid-corder and prepared to broadcast, she wondered what the green bits were made of.

“Attention, inhabitants of Crystal System planet ‘Earth’!” She said, with a well-practised tone of authority. “I am peacekeeper Jade Twelve of Twenty, and I am here to answer a distress beacon detected from your planet’s surface. Please broadcast landing coordinates within the next twenty four hours.”

She made to turn off the vid-corder, then stopped herself as she remembered something. “Oh, also.” She continued. “Laws and Regulations stipulate that if I do not receive said landing coordinates within twenty four hours, I am to assume that there are no gems able to hear me and just land anyway. And if I do find anyone, they will be charged with obstructing the course of justice.”

Jade stayed silent for a moment to let that sink in, and then threw away any sense of menace created by finishing with “So, um, yes. Please send those in. Have a nice day!”

_=====_

Her broadcast had not only been seen, but seen by two groups. The first to see it was Steven Universe, who at the time had been trying to record the season finale of one of his favourite cartoons. His cry of dismay at having his show interrupted quickly drew the rest of the Crystal Gems, who were now crowding around the television and watching the taped broadcast over and over.

“So, like, is this going to start being a thing now?” Amethyst asked. “Because maybe we should just start stealing cable.”

Usually Pearl would have reprimanded her for such a comment, but she and Garnet were too busy scrutinising the recorded message, looking for meaning in every pixel.

“Well?” Garnet asked.

Pearl frowned, and said “I’m not sure. It can be hard to tell from looks, of course, but from her mannerisms I would guess that she’s not the original Jade.”

“Original?” Steven piped up. “You mean she’s a clone? Do gems have clones?”

“We should try to not draw more attention than we already have.” Pearl continued, ignoring Steven’s question entirely. “Perhaps we can just tell her it was a false alarm, and send her away? Then we would have some time to catch Peridot before she sends out another signal.”

Garnet nodded. “That could work. But we’ll need a backup plan if it doesn’t.”

She stared at the television some more, then leaned in to point at the bottom of screen. “Do you recognise these controls?” She asked.

Pearl leaned in closer. “Why, yes. They almost look like…” Suddenly she laughed. “Oh goodness, they still use those? Those were ancient even back then!”

“Do either of you want to fill us in?” Amethyst said.

“What she means” Garnet explained, with a smirk, “Is that her ship is very old. That makes it weak. So if she doesn’t leave-”

“We can just blast her out of the sky!” Amethyst finished for her, grinning widely. “Awesome. I like this plan.”

The uncomfortable look on Steven’s face suggested that he thought otherwise. Rubbing the back of his neck, he chuckled nervously and said “Yeah, well, we should probably make sure she’s not friendly before we do that.”

Garnet just smiled and ruffled his hair in response.

_=====_

The second group to hear Jade’s broadcast was composed solely of Peridot, and she heard it in what could only be described as her lair.

She considered human technology to be - to damn it with the faintest of praises - rather quaint. Downright primitive, in fact. But an advantage it had was that it was all rather easy to understand. Even the oldest of gem technology was complicated enough to require experimentation, but electronic computers and fossil fuel engines? She could build with those in her sleep. If she ever needed to sleep.

Thus, she’d set up base in a human junkyard. The smell left something to be desired, but it was full of usable materials, and it was also the perfect distance from any warp pads, offering easy access without being easily detected. Already she’d built a surveillance system, a radio receiver and a bunch of security measures.

Now it was nearly over. She just needed to build a transmitter of some kind, tell the Jade her location, and she’d be gone.

“And it’s about time!” She said to herself. “I can’t wait to get off this disgusting planet. Now, where did I put that screwdriver?”


	3. Landing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Going to be honest, I'm not really happy with this bit. It's a necessary scene transition, but I don't know if I covered it well enough or if things are a bit too OOC._
> 
> _Also SO HOW ABOUT THAT CATCH AND RELEASE, eh?_

“But Ammolite, you and Citrine can’t possibly make it work! You’re from entirely different worlds!”

At some point Jade had realised that things like ‘up’ and ‘down’ had no real meaning in space, so she had positioned her ship to have the Earth glowing overhead. Beauty aside, the light reflecting off its day-side made for a much better reading light than the one in the cockpit.

She was in the middle of acting out one of her favourite scenes from her books when a sudden beeping caused her to jump. Looking over the top of the pages to the dashboard she saw that a button was flashing red in time with the noise - she was being hailed.

Jade was surprised. It had only been a few hours, and she hadn’t expected a response so soon, or perhaps one at all for that matter. Clearly this special mission would be easier than she thought. She’d definitely make her precinct proud.

Taking a second to compose herself, she held down the hail button and spoke into it. “This is Jade Twelve of Twenty, go ahead.”

_=====_

Down in Beach City, the Crystal Gems had come up with a plan. All of them, plus Greg, would drive out to the edge of town. Pearl and Amethyst would then fuse, while Garnet would (briefly) split. Using Greg’s audio equipment, and a ham radio salvaged from Amethyst’s room, Sapphire would then contact the ship and bring it in to land.

From there, two things could happen. Either the Jade would be convinced by their story of a false alarm, and would just fly away again. No unnecessary fighting or property damage, and she would have no idea what the Crystal Gems usually looked like. Alternatively she could see through the ruse, in which case Opal would shoot down her ship, they’d all attack her at once, and she’d be poofed and bubbled before she knew it.

It wasn’t a perfect plan, admittedly. But it was Garnet’s, so the others trusted in it.

“Yes, that’s right.” Sapphire said into the microphone. The headphones Greg had slipped on her head looked enormous on her. “They didn’t let you hear it first? That’s a shame. Yes, just an accident… yes, you can come and take a look around around if you wish. Coordinates are-”

While she rattled off a string of numbers and letters Steven and Ruby leaned against the side of the van. The former was humming to himself and watching clouds, while the latter was nervously strumming her fingers on the binoculars around her neck. Opal silently loomed overhead, watching the sky and casting a shadow over all of them.

“Pearl sounded like she knew this gem.” Steven suddenly said. “Do you?”

Ruby shrugged, trying not to appear tense and failing at it. “Maybe. But it doesn’t matter anyway. Even if we don’t, police are usually the same everywhere.”

Steven wasn’t sure what to make of that statement - the police officers he’d sometime see on the boardwalk had always seemed friendly to him - but he kept that to himself. To change the subject, he nodded towards the back of the van and asked “Are… you and Sapphire okay with being separated?”

Ruby rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. “It was our plan, wasn’t it? It’s not like we haven’t had to split before.... but thanks, Steven.”

Sapphire took off her headphones and drifted over. “She’s coming now.”

Ruby nodded and raised the binoculars to her face, scanning the horizon. Steven and Greg followed likewise and looked skyward.

“What do you see, Sapphy?” Ruby asked.

Sapphire shrugged. “Many things.” She said. “Some are good, some are better. But I don’t see many ways this can go truly wrong.”

Suddenly Opal spoke up. “I see her. Steven, get in the van.”

“Aww!”

_=====_

Meanwhile, Peridot was working furiously.

She’d really outdone herself on the transmitter. A metal column of blinking lights and coloured wires, it could easily send a message to anywhere on Earth - or more importantly, to anything orbiting it. It also included a speaker system, a recording function, and could even (if the writing on the CPU’s she’d scavenged was any indication) play Viking Adventure 3 at max graphics. Whatever that meant.

“Almost there, almost there!” She muttered to herself.

She had heard the conversation between the Jade and… some other gem. She didn’t recognise the voice, but it wasn’t hard to guess who it belonged to. Those Crystal Gems had been a thorn in her side for too long. She was getting off this planet today, diamond damn it, and nothing was going to stop her! 

With a final twist of a screw it was ready. Peridot turned a few dials and pressed a few buttons, then gave it a kick with her short leg and brought it to humming life.

“Oh, I hope this works.” She said to herself, as she grabbed the microphone. “Peacekeeper, this is Peridot. Pull up! Pull up now, it’s a trap!”

_=====_

The ship grew bigger and more distinct as it came in to land. It was now close enough for Ruby to make out the features of the pilot through her binoculars. The plan was working perfectly. But then suddenly the Jade seemed to panic and heaved on the controls, causing the ship to turn away and begin to rise.

“She’s not buying it!” Ruby shouted. “Take her down!”

Opal loosed an arrow towards the ship, as long as a person and glowing an incandescent white. By accident or design the ship lurched at the last second, dodging it by an inch. Another arrow was loosed, and again the ship just managed to move out of the way.

“She’s good.” Steven noted.

“Forget that, she’s getting away!” Ruby said.

Opal frowned and spoke up. “No, she’s not.”

With an almighty twang of the bow a storm of arrows shot skyward, leaving no escape. One struck the side of the saucer, gouging a deep furrow through the plating. Another bounced off the canopy, shattering the glass into dust. Finally one struck dead on from beneath, and the entire back end of the ship exploded outwards. Gutted, trailing fire and smoke, the saucer whirled towards earth and crashed on the horizon.

Greg, watching silently up until this point, winced at the distant impact. “Oh boy, I hope that didn’t hit anything.” He muttered.

Steven opened his mouth to reassure him, but stopped as Garnet reformed and Opal split.

“Let’s go.” Said Garnet.

“So much for subtlety.” Pearl added, as she climbed into the front of the van.

_=====_

The only sound in Peridot’s lair was the hissing of the transmitter’s speakers.

She stood in silence, staring at the pillar in shock as she heard the sounds of distress panic, then explosions and screaming, and finally a great crash and the crackling of flames. Then static.

Her face twisted into sudden anger, and Peridot began kicking the transmitter with her short leg, punctuating each with a shout. “You useless, no-good, stupid, CLOD!”

With all-consuming rage she summoned her arm cannon and began blasting the transmitter, reducing it to charred scrap. “One job! You have ONE job! All you needed to do was to pick me up, now I’m never-!”

Her anger drained away with a sob, and she fell to her knees. “I’m never getting home. I’m going to die here.”


	4. Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _So... this is late. Fallout 4 and Undertale happened. Also this part has been absolutely horrible to write because there's so much I want to tell, but I couldn't seem to avoid making it either too rushed or too specific. Tell me which end it hits more, please._
> 
> _But anyway - sorry! Hopefully things become smoother from here on out!_

The field was ablaze, covered in debris and the smell of burnt carrots. The spaceship had hit the ground at an extreme angle, gouging a deep trench and filling the air with dirt and vegetables, and then finally coming to a shuddering, smoking stop.

After a few minutes a panel on the side of the wreck popped off and out tumbled Jade, charred and smoking but otherwise intact. A panicked inspection of her gem revealed it to be undamaged, too, which was a relief.

Fighting off a wave of dizziness, Jade sat down and pulled out a recorder.

“Day Eight.” She said. “I have… the ship is…”

She couldn't bring herself to say it. To say just how bad the situation was, how much she’d failed. The chief was going to be so angry.

“Have landed on the planet's surface.” She eventually continued, trying to keep her voice level. “Will continue the mission on foot, but my ship will require repairs before I can return.”

She planned to end the recording with something jovial-sounding, to make everything sound better than it was. Perhaps comment on how the planet was covered in houseplants (which she thought was amazing. Who could afford so many?). But whatever she was going to say was replaced with a hurried “Contact! Stand by!” as the earth suddenly began to shake.

Spraying dirt and ash, a creature burst from the ground some dozen metres ahead of her. It was an enormous thing, easily twice Jade’s height and many times her weight. A dull brown in colour, it had a sharp pair of front claws and a much larger pair of back legs, that looked poised to leap at any moment. Its eyes were beady and calculating, its teeth prominent, and its ears large and floppy.

Jade moved to summon her weapon, but stopped herself when she noticed the smokey, grey gem it had in place of a nose. Some kind of quartz, if she wasn’t mistaken.

“Citizen.” She said, sighing with relief to find rescue already there. “Thank goodness. But you’re in grave danger. The criminals that show down by ship are probably on their way now.”

The gem did not reply, but taking a moment to look at the surrounding destruction it stepped a little closer. Then it growled.

Jade frowned, her fear momentarily replaced with annoyance. She really didn’t need this right now. “I’m going to assume you’re in shock.” She said, using the official warning tone. “Because making threatening sounds or gestures at a peacekeeper carries a penalty of six to ten decades of imprisonment.”

The gem tilted its head and took a step back. Then it roared and leapt forward, slamming into Jade and throwing her against the side of the ship.

Jade gritted her teeth against the pain, then put her clenched fist over her gem in a salute. Her chest glowed a bright green, and when she retracted her hand a mace was drawn from within it. A cold grey in colour and long enough to be comfortably wielded with two hands, on its head were eight half-diamond shaped flanges.

“Assaulting a peacekeeper.” Jade said. She was angry now. That was good, her training could take over with that. “Punishable by four to eight centuries of imprisonment and slash or repurposing.”

The gem beast leaped again, but this time she was ready for it. Holding the mace with both hands she swung upwards, catching it under the chin with an almighty crack and throwing it back.

From there the fight began in earnest. The gem beast was incredibly strong, and deceptively fast for its size. Precise mace strikes turned out to be no good, not even fazing it and leaving Jade wide open to a riposte. So she began to wield it two-handed and swing it wildly, using the momentum of each glancing blow to carry her into the next.

But she couldn’t keep going forever. In time, perhaps within the hour, she would tire and the beast would destroy her. She needed to distract it somehow. Get past its guard and deliver the killing blow.

That distraction was delivered in the form of a boxy, rapidly-approaching native vehicle. Sensing easier prey the gem beast turned to charge it, giving Jade the opening she’d been waiting for. With a shout and a sound like shattering porcelain she slammed her mace into the back of one of the beast’s knees. The pain it felt must have been immense, as rather than strike back the beast just screamed and fell on to its side, opening it up to further strikes.

“Attempted unauthorised destruction of native lifeforms.” Jade shouted over the howling, punctuating every other word with a hit. “Offenders may be subjected to a small fine or twentyfour hours of community service.”

With one last blow the beast dissipated and the roaring stopped. Tired but satisfied, Jade grabbed the gemstone from the ground and turned towards the vehicle, watching as figures began to climb out. Two gems, a pearl, and what she presumed were two of the natives.

“That was AMAZING!” The smaller native exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement.

Jade smiled at that and moved to greet them, but then she noticed that the burning of her ship had changed. The flames had become smaller and brighter, and with a bright green flame.

Eyes wide, she threw out an arm towards the newcomers. “Get back!” She shouted. “Clear the area! The ship is going to explode!”

On cue, the ship exploded.

A bright green fireball raced upwards, lighting up the area and throwing smoke and debris everywhere. The two natives were knocked off their feet, and before Jade could even begin to react a piece of flying plating cut her clean in half across the waist.

She at least had time to say “Oh shards.” before both pieces of her hit the ground and she dissipated.

====

Back on Homeworld, the chief pressed a button on her desk and spoke out loud. “Send in sergeant One of Twenty, please.”

A few minutes later another Jade walked in and saluted. This one’s coat was covered in a fine layer of dust, and her hair was razor straight down to the small of her back. Her face, even when meant to be impassive, was cold.

“At ease.” Said the chief. “Keeping busy, I hope?”

“Yes ma’am.” One-Twenty replied, brushing some dust off her shoulder. It sparked where it caught sunlight. “Just finishing up last night’s group. It’s amazing, the things they say.”

What the chief thought of that she gave no sign, instead jumping straight to business and asking “What are your thoughts on Twelve-Twenty?”

One-Twenty’s replied was immediate and rehearsed. “All of my batch are commendable and I would gladly-”

The chief waved her hand dismissively. “This isn’t a review, I just want to hear your thoughts. Off the record.”

One-Twenty relaxed, although not by much. “Well, ma’am.” She began. “The rookie is… fine. Enthusiastic, even. But,” She began to rub her wrists in unease. “But I don’t know if she’s tough enough for the work. I mean, there’s a reason you keep her in traffic duty, right?”

The chief stared at her for the moment, then nodded. “Interesting. Thank you for your thoughts. Dismissed.”

After she left the chief proceeded to do mindless paperwork for five minutes. Then she spoke into her desk again, saying “No more calls, thirty minutes” and pressed a secret button on the underside. Armoured shuttering closed over the windows and the door, and the official spy-jammer installed into her chair began to softly hum.

Ten more minutes passed, and then the chief pressed the other button under her desk - one that she’d personally installed in secret during her first night in the office. The desk began to hum with a jammer of its own, and the screen that appeared in the air in front of her played a recording.

The chief watched it. She rewound it to the beginning and watched it again. Then she watched it a third time, pausing it just before the end.

The creature on the screen was frozen in mid-jump, its hair caught mid-flail. Its clothing had begun to rise up as it leapt, exposing the pink gem seated in the centre of its stomach.

“Yes.” The chief muttered to herself. “Very interesting.”


End file.
